Welcome to the Show
by anonymousllama93
Summary: Percy is a famous escape artist working in a traveling circus, Drew is a talented aerial silks dancer. Both risk their lives onstage everyday, but the real dangers are outside the big top tent. Drew Tanaka x Percy Jackson
1. Chapter 1 - Percy

Welcome to the Show

Percy is a famous escape artist working in a traveling circus, Drew is a talented aerial silks dancer. Both risk their lives onstage everyday, but the real dangers are outside the big top tent.

Drew Tanaka x Percy Jackson

 **Percy**

Drew was glorious, a whirlwind of red and gold moving up and down the silks in constant motion. Twirling and spinning, the light of the tent catching on the gold embroidery of her bodysuit.

I watched from the side of the ring admiring her talent and beauty, undoubtedly with a dumb look on my face. As the next act I didn't have much to do except wait and watch the show. She looked radiant and I gasped along with the crowd as she maneuvered the silks and dropped more than ten feet. Gods, she was spectacular. I watched as she dropped to the ground in a graceful curtsy and, I'm sure I imagined it, but it almost looked like she glanced over towards me as the rigmaster stepped forwards. But it was unlikely, Drew had made her feelings towards me quite clear. Even if she sometimes did things that made me wonder if she really hated me so much, her clipped words, quick dismissals, and one straight up rejection left no doubts in my mind that Drew felt nothing for me. Still, for some reason I couldn't get her out of my head.

Despite my desperate pining I did have a show to put on, gods knows Annabeth would have my head if I messed up my act. "Alright seaweed brain," Annabeth called checking her watch, "time for you to head out." I smiled, giving her a two fingered salute as I walked out into the ring.

Drew's silks had been pulled up and now the only thing in the ring was a large tank of water. I climbed the stairs to the platform in front of the tank while Dionysus announced my act. "And now ladies and gentlemen, the act you've all been waiting for… the great escape artist, Perseus Jackson!" The crowd roared as I stepped out onto the platform and their screams grew as my assistant, Grover, stepped up, chains and padlocks in hand. I winked at the crowd as I held my hands together for Grover to padlock, then had him wrap the chains around my body. Dionysus, ever the showman, even called down a few lucky audience members to help with the knots and make sure I was thoroughly locked in place. When everyone had finished, Grover and the audience members bowed as I shuffled forwards the end of the platform. Then, with a light push from Grover, I fell in.

Now was when the real show started. Since I was the star act the audience was expecting a good show, and I was excited to deliver. As I began to sink, my mental countdown started. The knots were well done, this audience member clearly knew his stuff and I was beginning to panic. My lungs wanted air and I hadn't even begun undoing the chains yet. I trashed about in the water, but then, just as I had begun to think this might be my last show I grasped the padlock in my hand and managed to angle my picks into it. My wrists and arms started to burn but I held them in place as my picks worked their magic, tuning out the roars of the crowds until I heard the tell-tale click as the lock clicked open. I quickly maneuvered my arms out of the chains and got to work on the knots around my knees and ankles. A few air bubbles escaped my lungs and frow the way they were burning I could tell I was running out of time. A few seconds later I had made quick work of the last few knots and was swimming my way to the surface. I burst through the surface of the water gasping for breath. As time had gone on the audience had gotten quieter and quieter, to the point where the tent was almost completely silent as they waited on the edge of their seats until I finally rocketed to the surface. The second I took in my first breath the crowd exploded into cheers and I quickly pulled myself up onto the platform, stood up and bowed. I waved to the crowd, making sure to get all sides of the big tent. When I glanced to the performer's entrance to the ring almost all the cast members were there. Not Drew though. I felt my smile getting faker as I continued bowing and waving to the crowd. The whole tent was watching me, but the one person I wanted to see me wasn't there.

Hey babes,

Hope you liked this chapter. I'm not totally sure how long this is going to be but I can tell you that there are going to be multiple POVs, Drew is up next so get excited! I'm going to try to update once a week but, um, that probably won't happen (sorry). I've a bunch of other stories planned but I'm only working on a few at a time so we'll see how that goes. Please, please message me, I literally have no life so I'll definitely get back to you. If you have any pairings you want to see in this story or any other just let me know! I really like writing rare pair stories so if you have any unconventional ships please hmu I'd love to hear them.

Xoxo


	2. Chapter 2 - Drew

**Drew**

Percy was actually going to die this time. As I stood with baited breath with the rest of the performers that was the only thought going through my head. As time went on the crowd got quieter and quieter, and Percy was still struggling in the tank. This was by far the longest he'd been under water and he wasn't going to make it. I could feel my eyes getting watery at the thought and suddenly I couldn't take it! I couldn't watch him die, entranced with some kind of awful fascination. I turned and left, slipping through the dressing areas until I reached the back exit of the tent. I wasn't in the finale tonight, so technically I was free to go, even if it was frowned upon. I tried to give myself reasons to excuse my sudden departure, 'I just wanted some me time' I thought, 'it's fine this has nothing to do with Percy'. Gods, I couldn't stop worrying about him. I had no right to worry about him! I railed at myself, "you lost that right when you ignored him and looked down on him and tried everything, everything to push him away!" But no matter what I did there was always that little voice in my head whispering "This one is different, he won't hurt you." But I knew he would, or I would hurt him. That's always how it went, no matter what. I was poison. Percy could be the most wonderful person and it would still end badly. That's what I did apparently, I messed up relationships. I broke hearts.

I quickly walked through the group of trailers looking for mine. Each trailer was named after a greek god or goddess, all the major gods and goddesses were there, except Dionysus. I guess even he thought it would be too self absorbed to name a trailer after himself. I was in the Aphrodite trailer which was inconveniently located as far away from the big top tent as possible.

I finally entered my trailer, passing by Piper, Selina, and Lacy's beds until I reached the vanity in the back corner of the rectangular space. For once the trailer was silent and I reveled in the peace it brought. I reached down to the bottom left drawer and dug into our collection of makeup removers until I found my favorite lavender one. It always relaxed me and let me wipe off the worries of the day as I wiped off my face. Once my face was free of my overdrawn makeup I undid my hair from its carefully twisted bun, slowly pulling out each bobby pin until my loosely curled black hair fell around my face. Then I walked over to my bed and quickly changed out of my leotard and into my favorite silk kimono robe. Now that I'd removed every part of performer Drew I sat on my bed, all my pillows propped up behind me, and grabbed my reading glasses and the local paper.  
I'd just turned to the review section and was reading a feature on the anticipation around the circus, especially Percy, when the other Aphrodite girls all barged in. I sighed, putting down the paper, so much for my peace and quiet. The girls all chatted loudly as they changed and took off their makeup, but Selina came right to me and sat at the foot of my bed. "Are you ok?" She enquired quietly. I faked a smile, "Yeah, I'm good" Selina gave me a look to let me know I wasn't fooling anyone but thankfully she didn't call me out on it. "Percy is fine by the way." She said, smiling gently at me as she got up off my bed. Selina started to walk away, calling over her shoulder, "People are calling it his best show yet." I frowned, am I that transparent? Surely not, Selina's just good at reading people. That's why her day job is giving romantic advice for a few dollars, it's one of our most popular attractions outside of the big tent actually. But of course Selina's last statement was loud enough for some of the other girls to hear, specifically Piper. "Wait, wait, wait." Piper said as she leapt over her bed to sit on mine, "Were you...worried about Percy?" Piper was only halfway through taking off her makeup when she rushed over to my bed and she looked ridiculous enough that it wasn't hard to muster up all the disdain I need to be convincing, "No Piper, of course not. You know I don't care about that low-budget houdini wanna-be." Piper sighed disappointedly, "And the world makes sense again." She grumbled. I nudged her gently with my foot, "What?" She questioned, sounding fairly annoyed. I motioned to her bed, "Aren't you going somewhere?" Piper rolled her eyes and mumbled something about a 'jerk queen bee' but she got up and stalked back to the vanity to finish taking off her makeup so I didn't worry too much about it. Most of the girls had quieted down now so I crossed my legs and return to the paper, idly wondering what they'd say about Percy in tomorrow's edition. As I finished the feature and started flipping through the style section the girls lamps turned off, one by one, as they finished getting changed and set up for the next day.  
When I finished reading through the paper my lamp was the only one on. I sighed and stretched my arms, putting my paper and glasses down next to my lamp. I gave the room a perfunctory check over, as the person who'd been here the second longest I had a responsibility to watch over the other girls. Everything looked good and I was about to turn off my light until I glanced at the bed next to mine, the sheets were rumpled and pulled back, but more importantly the bed was empty. Piper was gone.

Ok loves,

Here's another chapter, I really hope you liked it :)

I didn't put it in the chapter but if you were wondering about the other girls jobs, Piper is a lion tamer and Lacy is a trapeze artist. Please review, even if it's just to say you hate it, I really want to grow as a writer so any and all feedback is welcome.


	3. Chapter 3 - Percy

**Percy**

I was abruptly woken up by someone pounding on my door. I jumped out of bed and ran-hopped to the door as I pulled on my pants, I was panicking. I'd overslept and missed the show, I'd messed up an act, I was being fired. Each scenario was worse than the previous so when I opened the door to see Drew holding an electric lantern surrounded by pitch black darkness I was momentarily relieved; until I saw her face. Drew looked terrified, honestly terrified. That was when I realized Drew's hair was haphazardly tied up in a loose bun and she was just in her robe. What was happening? "Are you ok?" I questioned urgently. "Piper's missing, have you seen her?" Drew asked urgently, "I've been all over camp and no one has seen her!"  
"Is anyone else looking for her?" I asked, my own voice losing its sleepiness as fear for one of my closest friends set in, "Have you talked to Jason, maybe she just went to see him?" Even to my own ears it didn't sound believable. Piper was smart, she wouldn't break the rules just to spend time with her boyfriend. Drew's dark, glassy obsidian eyes were wide … and I really shouldn't have been thinking about Drew's eyes at a time like this. I knew she and Piper didn't really get along but I also knew Drew cared deeply about all the girls in her trailer. "It's going to be ok." I said, trying to calm both our nerves. "I'll look with you." I offered, "We can swing by Jason's trailer and then check everywhere else." Drew took a deep breath, still looking worried out of her mind. "Okay… okay… um" Drew ran a hand through her hair frantically, "The other Aphrodite girls are looking too. I said I would check the big three trailers because she's closest with you guys and all the other girls are going to check the rest of the campsite and then down the road to town." Drew said, words slurring together in haste. I gently rested a hand on her shoulder, "Breathe" I requested gently, my eyes steadily meeting her frantic black ones, "Piper's smart, we are going to find her. Now let's go check the Zeus trailer."  
As we quickly walked to the Zeus trailer my hand unconsciously reached out towards Drew's seeking reassurance that she was safe. I withdrew it just centimeters from her hand when I realized what I was doing. But, as I dropped my hand back down to my side Drew's hand reached out and grabbed mine, holding on as her life depended on it. I squeezed her hand gently as we approached the cabin, "It's going to be fine." I whispered. Drew nodded jerkily before knocking on the door of the Zeus trailer. After a minute of waiting Jason opened the door and Drew immediately dropped my hand. From first glance it was pretty easy to see that we had woken Jason up, his hair was messy from sleep, his glasses were crooked and he was still blinking the sleep out of his eyes when he grumbled at us. "Whashappenin?" Jason questioned. "Piper's missing." Drew stated urgently, quickly scaring any lingering sleepiness from Jason, "Have you seen her?" She questioned intently. "Not since the show," Jason admitted frantically, "I don't know where she would go? Let me grab another lamp, I can help you look, where've you looked? Maybe I can think of someplace you haven't thought of?" Jason was quickly moving about the trailer now, tossing things about as he looked for his shoes and lanturn. "What the …?" A voice called groggily. "Thals?" I responded. Thalia flipped on her bedside lamp, blinking tiredly at me and Drew's messily put together outfits, "What's going on seaweed brain?" Thalia asked, using her and Annabeth's nickname for me. "Piper's missing." Drew said bluntly, "Have you seen her?" she questioned, her fear bleeding through her blunt tone. Thalia blinked, "She was serious? Oh my gods!"  
"Thals?" Jason questioned, "What do you know?"  
"I didn't ..." Thalia paused, searching for words, "I didn't think she would do something so reckless. Piper's always so sensible." She implored, almost begging us to understand. "Thalia," I asked tensely, "What did Piper do?"  
"She ... she said a few days ago that a guy visiting the circus had found her after the show and invited her to an event in town." Thalia hesitated, "She said he talked it up, made it sound real fun, but she knew you guys wouldn't approve. A night of debauchery, dancing, and drugs right in the middle of our stay? There was no way any of you would go for it, and for good reason. I asked around, apparently the guy is real dangerous, he bounces around from city to city, causing trouble and mayhem. I told her everything I'd found out but she didn't look particularly dissuaded. Still, I never figured she'd actually go, I'm so sorry. I should've tried harder to stop her, I should've told you guys. I just … figured she wouldn't go." Thalia's face was pale and tightly drawn. "It's okay Thals." Jason said, trying to comfort his big sister. "We know where to look now, we are going to find her, I promise."

Thalia and Jason had quickly gotten dressed and grabbed their lanterns. And now the four of us were quickly walking through the campsite towards the road to town. As we walked we passed other Aphrodite girls Drew told them what Thalia had told us and they joined our group to search the road to town. First though, we sent Valentina and Lacy back to the trailer to wait in case Piper came back. Then Jason, Drew, Selina, Thalia, and I set off down the road to town.

Ok babes~

Here's the next chapter, sorry it was so late :/

As always if there's anything you loved/hated/were wondering about hmu!

Just in case you were wondering: Jason is a human cannonball and Thalia is his assistant. And if you're wondering why Jason and Thalia are sharing a cabin, it's because they are siblings and since they're a headline act they get extra benefits and space.

Thanks so much for reading! The next chapter will be up next week, probably around the same time.


	4. Chapter 4 - Drew

Sorry this is so late. Actually I'm not really that sorry but I was super busy and when I did have time it wasn't really flowing the way I wanted it to.

Slight trigger warnings for this chapter because Piper did some drugs y'all. I'm clearly not an expert or anything but Don't do drugs kids (if you do do drugs do it smart, don't take drugs from strangers, don't mix substances, take small amounts so you know how your body will react, and do it with other people in case something bad happens.)

 **Drew**

The road was dark and winding. The shadows from our lanterns were stretched and distorted, reaching for me from every direction. We could only see a few feet in every direction before the weak light from the lanterns was consumed by the darkness. Everywhere the darkness seemed to be looming and my thoughts were as dark as the shadows around us. 'What if we couldn't find Piper, what if she was hurt, what if she was dead…' my thoughts began to spiral and I was losing sense of reality. I was overcome with fear. It was everywhere, covering my skin and carving the light out of my chest. The darkness felt like it was about to consume me, until I felt calloused fingers lacing between my own delicate ones. The warm solid feeling of Percy's hand in mine spread from my fingers up my arm, filling my body with light and settling in my bones, grounding me in reality. Percy glanced at me and when he saw I wasn't pulling away he gently squeezed my hand. Percy attempted a reassuring smile and I tried to smile back before lifting my lantern and resuming my search.

We were almost all the way to town when Selina screamed. "Oh my gods! Piper!" Selina froze in place for a moment in sheer horror before running to the side of the road. As she approached the slight ditch between the road and the tree line her lantern illuminated the area. As Selina got closer the rest of our group was frozen in place with the same horror that Selina must have felt mere seconds ago. Percy's grip on my hand tightened as the lantern revealed a figure in the ditch. She was unconscious, her hair wild and falling out of her usual braid. Her clothes were torn and her bronze skin was littered with small cuts. it looked as if she had crawled part of the way down the road and gotten caught in some of the brambles that reached out of the woods, but it was definitely Piper. Percy dropped my hand as he sprinted to Piper and I felt the loss keenly but I trailed after him, Thalia and Jason hot on my heels. "Backup, back up! Give them space!" Selina implored us as Percy gently rolled Piper over and leaned down to check her breathing. I felt myself holding my own breath as I watched Percy count Piper's breaths. "She's breathing, but it's very slow and shallow. We need an ambulance." Percy stated as calmly as he could, "Jason, Piper is going to be fine but I need you to go with Selina and Thalia into town to get a doctor."

"No! I need … I need to stay here! What if, what if she wakes up and she's scared? Or if she … if she doesn't wake up? I have to be here for her!" Jason was frantic, pacing back and forth, tripping over his words.

"Jason." Percy said placatingly, "Piper will be safe with me and Drew, we know what to do and I need you to keep Selina and Thalia safe when they go to town. This is the best way for you to help Piper."

"C'mon Jason," Thalia said shakily, "lets go hurry and get the ambulance."

Jason nodded quickly, his glasses slipping down his nose slightly. "Okay, we'll go to town." With Jason, Thalia, and Selina heading off to get the ambulance it was up to Percy and I to try and keep Piper stable. I kneeled down next to Percy and held Piper's hand, gently murmuring reassurances, both to Piper and herself. Piper's fingertips were turning blue I noticed dully, and her hands were cold as ice. I began rubbing her hands back and forth over Piper's icy ones to warm them. As Percy tipped her head back slightly to open up Piper's airway as much as possible. We sat like that, next to Piper in the chilly fall air, for what must have been at least half an hour. At some point Percy's hoodie was draped over Piper's torso and, a short time later, I felt him place his jacket around my shoulders. The ambulance finally came, it's workers quickly loaded Piper up, someone told me that I should go to the hospital to wait for Piper to wake up. And when the ambulance departed as quickly, and loudly, as it came. Percy and I walked into town.

"Alprazolam." The doctor informed us. "It's a fairly new prescription drug. You might know it as Xanax. She took a normal dosage but she was highly intoxicated at the time which greatly increased the likelihood that she would overdose."

"Is she ok?" Jason asked urgently, stepping closer to the doctor. The doctor took a step back, eyeing us carefully. "Yes, Ms. Mclean will be right as rain quite soon. We just have to pump her stomach and give her some medication but she should be able to see … friends and family in a few hours." The doctor gave us all one more quick glance before bustling away. That's when I realized why the doctor had been giving us such odd looks. I knew how I was dressed, how Selina and Piper looked. When Thalia, Jason, and Selina had arrived at the hospital they probably didn't even notice Selina. I was sure it was a shock for them to see Piper, she was so obviously Jason's girlfriend, and I'd never quite realized how they must look to the people of these small towns. I was suddenly so aware of Percy's hand in mine and it felt like the doctor's eyes were still watching us. I dropped his hand.

Hey babes, sorry this is like three weeks late. :( it just wasn't really working for me so I just left it for a bit to work on some other small things (some of that will be posted soon i guess but honestly i'm kind of a mess rn so who knows. I don't really have any notes for this update, but the next 2-3 chapters will be mostly fluff and then we'll really be getting into the main arc. get ready for some piperxjason cuteness!

thanks for your patience xx


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